Thursday, February 24, 2011Stopping big plays in the SEC
By ESPN.com staffESPN.com

It's that time of year when we examine a little bit of everything.

We took a look earlier this week at those offenses in the SEC that specialize in generating big plays. How about those defenses that specialize in stopping big plays?

And by big plays, we're talking about plays of 20 yards or longer.

Thanks to data supplied by ESPN's Stats & Info crew, Florida was the best team in the SEC last season at preventing big plays. In fact, the Gators have led the way in the SEC in that department each of the last two seasons and were second in the league in 2008.

Florida allowed just 32 plays of 20 yards or longer last season, which was tied for second nationally with TCU. Pittsburgh was first, as the Panthers yielded 30 big plays.

Over the last three seasons, the Gators lead the SEC with 96 plays allowed of 20 yards or longer. Tennessee is second (118), followed by Alabama (124), LSU (130) and South Carolina (135).

Here's the SEC breakdown over the last three seasons of defensive plays allowed of 20 yards or longer: